III)Comfort women had a freedom of changing their jobs, quitting their businesss, and returning their countries.
"Life facilities in Japanese Army (Report on an Investigation of ATIS, Number 120)," made by the translation and interpretation section of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers on 15th November 1945, described:
Comfort women were generally employed again when their contracts' term was finished. However, comfort women who wanted to continue their jobs had to inform of the logistics officers in charge of Manira and they must ask a permission. All comfort women were forced to return their own countries when authorities of medical affairs judged quitting their business.
Comfort women notified their intention whether they would quit or continue. If they did not tell their intention, they did not have to be employed any longer. Comfort women could change their job and quit their business. If comfort women ruined their health, brothel's dealers could not continue to have them work, based on contracts. Moreover, this report told that they could give up their business when comfort women handed in an application to the logistics' officers.
"Diary of Army in China" (on 3rd May 1942) when a Japanese soldier asked a comfort woman to change her job said, "Even though I asked her to give up her prostitution promptly and work as a housewife, she did not answer." This diary implies that comfort women could give up their business.
Next, "Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49" told that "In the latter part of 1943, the Army (Japanese millitary authority in Burma) issued orders a part of women (comfort women) who had paid their debt could return home. Some of them were allowed to return Korea. Previous debt used to be legally effective in Japan.
However, it was illegal that brothel's dealers bound comfort women and rejected their giving up their business because of their debts. According to the supreme Court's judicial precedent in Febrary 1900, Yoshimi insisted the illegal actions, but he just proved that comfort women borrowed money. He did not prove such illegal actions existed.
According to Satoshi Uesugi's explanation of "Logistics at Wuhan (1943)", Miharu, a comfort woman in Hankou's comfort stations, made a lot of money from a officer who was about to go to the front.
He said, "please use this money to pay your debt." However, Miharu was not released by this money because the military authority had a regulation that comfort women must have pay all their debts by their ordinary business. The military authority in Hankou used comfort women's debts as an excuse for binding comfort women's bodies and rejected their giving up their business. This case was illegal.
The description of "Logistics at Wuhan (1943)." Uesugi might have distorted the Miharu's description. The real statement is, "Miharu, a comfort woman working in Hankou's comfort station, was made a lot of money from a officer, who was about to go to the front.
He said, "Please use this money to pay your debt. I think I will never come back to Hankou alive." Miharu cried, "Please don't say so. Please come again." In the next morning, he left all of this money. He said to her, "If I could have a chance to come to Hankou, I would be sure to visit her." He smiled at her and went to the front. Miharu contributed this money to "Tsuwamono Bunko", a library of logistics at Hankou.
Miharu did not try to pay her debts at all. Moreover, as the description was not clear enough to prove that the military authority in Hankou used comfort women's debts in order to bind them and reject their giving up their business. The document does not tell who made such rules.
"Hankou Comfort Stations" (This is Ken'ichi Nagasawa's Japanese Army Surgeon Diary) described most forms when parents sold their daughters to brothel's dealers. (cases of Hankou)
First, the document's name for debt.
Second, the sum of their debt was written.
Third, the sentence that comfort women must pay all their debts by their business was written.
Last, the date, the signiture of comfort women and their parents were written, and they put their seals.
Uesugi insists brothel's dealers in Hankou might use comfort women's debts in order to bind them and reject their giving up their business.
According to a record of police station at Shanghai general consulate, another case of "Conditions and regulation of Japanese comfort women living in abroad in 1936" told that police and navy authorities did not permit debts between brothel's dealers and comfort women. "A collection of military administration's regulation" written by Regulation of an employment contract of comfort women. No. 3, on November 11th 1943 Supervision's Department of Malaysia's military administration), described all comfort women's debts or another debts were passive. All money and goods customers directly gave to comfort women became income of comfort women.
Moreover, "No. 58 bulletin of Sekihei-Dan" (on 21st September 1944) said, "If comfort women sometimes requested to go back to Naha, the capital of Okinawa, while the ship was available, a committee issued certification for comfort women and made them use cars and trains. Japanese military authorities didn't prevent comfort women from giving up their business and returning their home.
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